Mary Meeker unveils 2013 Internet Trends report at D11 conference

Mary Meeker has unveiled her second annual Internet Trends report at the D11 conference. Meeker is a partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and follows up her famed first report with highlights on the growth of global internet usage and the aggressive momentum of the mobile web.

The biggest trend that persists through much of Meeker’s report is the incline of mobile traffic versus regular internet traffic. Mobile now accounts for 15 percent of total global internet traffic, and is likely to maintain a trajectory of 1.5x growth year-over-year, according to Meeker.

Compared to TV advertising, there is a large disparity in the amount of time consumers spend on mobile devices relative to the amount of money being spent on advertising. While we collectively spend 12 percent of our consumption time on mobile devices, mobile advertising dollars only account for 3 percent of total spending. Between that huge gap, and the smaller 4 percent difference in regular internet advertising, Meeker says that there is approximately a $20 billion dollar opportunity in the United States for growth.

2013 also saw the domination of tablets reach new heights, as they overtook both laptops and desktops in global shipments. The slide below shows the profound difference in the rise in popularity between tablets and laptops/desktops. Tablets took only three years from their introduction to overtake other form factors.

Another staggering metric Meeker presented is the 500 million+ photos shared each day on various internet services, which is poised to double within the next 12 months. This perhaps lends credence to the expensive acquisitions of Instagram by Facebook and Flickr by Yahoo.